


Hers Alone

by snapeslittleblackbuttons



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:44:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9538352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapeslittleblackbuttons/pseuds/snapeslittleblackbuttons
Summary: When Lily's secret relationship with Sirius Black is discovered by his younger brother and revealed to the Black Family, not only is her best friend furious, but her life is suddenly in danger. Should she leave him and save both their lives? Or should she stay and risk everything for him? With everything and everyone she loves swept up in the coming war, ultimately, all of the choices she must make are hers alone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note: all things Harry Potter belong exclusively to J. K. Rowling.

“They know.”

Whispered in the darkness, the statement needed no preamble, no explanation.

It was what they had feared all long.

No, not feared, per se. _Wanted to avoid at all costs_ , certainly. It was too…complicated. They had decided not to tell a soul if it could be avoided. Not even their closest friends. And now, someone knew.

Truthfully, their secret was only one of many things to be avoided now. She could feel it.

“Who knows?” Lily asked.

Sirius took a long breath, and dragged his fingers through his dark hair. For perhaps the thousandth time, Lily wondered whether Sirius had picked up the mannerism from James, or if it had been the other way around.

“My aunt,” he answered finally. “Bellatrix. The insane one. And the rest of my family.”

Lily cringed.

“What do you think she’ll do?”

“I have no idea.”

“How did she find out?”

“I’m guessing Reg found out and told them. It’s only a matter of time before Prongs and Moony find out.  Before everyone knows.”

“Shit,” Lily murmured.

She moved closer, unsure she would remain upright without him. She’d spent the last two years close to him. Being held up by him.

And praying no one would notice.

She tried breathing him in now, as if the scent of him would heal the tear his words had wrought.

She began to cry. “Everything we worked so hard to avoid, everything we planned—“

“No. It should have never been this way. Lil,” he pleaded, grasping her upper arms, “don’t cry. I promised you that everything would be okay. It will. We’ll hide until everything blows over. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“I don’t want to hide anymore.”

“I know.”

**o0o0o**

Severus entered the Slytherin common room, noting it was unusually crowded for a Tuesday evening. The room silenced in time with the sound of the door closing behind him.

“Hey, Severus,” Regulus turned and glanced up from one of the emerald couches, smirk on his face. “Perfect timing. You’ll want to hear this.”

“What’s that?” Severus feigned boredom as he steeled himself for whatever news Regulus was about to share. If he’d been called out to listen, it couldn’t be good. He dropped his rucksack off his shoulder and stood there, raising an eyebrow as if to say _get on with it_.

Apparently, Regulus wanted to savor the moment. The younger Slytherin silently preened as he surveyed the room to ensure his audience was granting him their full attention.

“Well?”

“Your precious little Gyffindor… _Muggleborn_ is sleeping with my arsehole blood-traitor brother.”

Of all the things Severus considered that _might_ emerge from his housemate’s mouth, this was not on the list.

“So?” Severus curled his lips into a sneer, hoping this would mask the colour draining from his face. “Why would I give a shite?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Regulus scoffed. “Maybe because you might be jealous. Everyone can see the tent you pitch every time that… _Muggleborn_ is around.”

“Speaking of jealousy, Black,” Severus said, picking up his rucksack off the floor, “you should stop staring at my trousers.”

A few students snickered at that.

Regulus smiled dangerously. “Fine. But I’m guessing you will _give a shite_ when you find out that my aunt has put a price on her pretty little head.”

**o0o0o**

“You’re…you’re…sleeping with Black? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

His eyes were stone.

Lily recoiled from the venom in her best friend’s voice. “You wouldn’t understand,” she said, keeping her voice level.

“I wouldn’t understand? Am I so unintelligent, so incapable of basic _understanding_ ,” Severus spat, “that you would choose to hide this from me?”

“Your anger is proving my point.”

“My _anger_ is irrelevant! Do _you_ understand what you’ve done? The Blacks are going to kill you, Lily! I am entirely serious!”

Severus turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t possibly comprehend what you’ve done. They always thought they would get their wayward son back. That he would return to the family after his little _Gryffindor_ rebellion. Now, now he’s fucking a Muggleborn! You can’t possibly imagine what they will do to you!”

“I don’t care.”

“You will.”

Severus sighed. “Bellatrix is going to hire someone to kill you, if she doesn’t decide to do it herself! Regulus was bragging about it in the common room!”

“I’m not afraid of her.”

“You should be.”

Severus walked toward the windows in the empty classroom, the echoes of his footfalls the only sound discernable in the near-dark. After few moments of pacing, he turned to her. “Look, you need to back away from Black completely. Right now. I might be able to—“

“I don’t want your help.”

“The one time I might possibly be able to help you—“

“No. We’re not hiding from them. From anyone. Sirius agrees.”

“Black agrees? Then why did you ask to see me?”

“I wanted to explain.”

“Explain what, exactly?”

“He loves me. And I love him.”

Severus huffed a half-hearted laugh. “If he loved you as you say, he would have never put you in this kind of danger.”

“I can’t imagine that he could have predicted that his aunt would react that way.”

“Lil! Do you honestly think he had no idea what his relationship with you would mean to his family?”

“Sev, please…” Lily said, taking a step toward him.

“No. It’s madness. If you decide to rethink your…stupidity, let me know.”

And he turned on his heel and fled the room.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Years Earlier**

 

_“Sirius, keep your voice down!”_ James glanced over Sirius’s shoulder at the lunchtime crowd in the Three Broomsticks.

“We’ve got to do something! We can’t let him suffer alone!”

Tightening his grip on his Butterbeer, James glared from across the booth. “He’s _not_ alone. We’re his mates. Now start acting like one, and keep your voice down!”

Sirius peered over his shoulder to survey the packed pub. As usual, James was overreacting. No one seemed to have noticed the two Gryffindors, let alone their conversation.

Leaning across the table, James hissed, “What do you expect us to do? Infect ourselves?”

“Of course not. Don’t be an arse.”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“I disagree.” Sirius eyed his housemate over the rim of his glass.

“Well, if you figure out something, genius, let me know.”

“Fine.” Sirius finished his drink in one swallow and slammed the empty glass on the table between them. “I’m off.” He stood. “And, just so you know, I think you’re a shite friend.”

 

o0o0o

 

Sirius wandered aimlessly through the village streets of Hogsmeade, annoyed with both James and the situation. There wasn’t an easy answer, certainly. But there had to be one. There was a way to help Remus, to help make the things easier for him, he just knew it.

They were the only family Remus had, and they needed to start acting like it.

What if they—

He turned a corner that led to an alley behind Honeydukes and stopped. The unmistakable long, red hair of his classmate yanked him out of his musings.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Lily said, swiveling to face him.

A ragged tomcat curled himself around her ankles, rubbing and mewling insistently. It looked up at Sirius as if to say _she’s mine_.  

She smiled and looked down. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Sirius, this is Felix. Felix, this is Sirius.”

“Does McGonagall get jealous that her star student cavorts with common alley cats?”

Lily laughed. “Are you sure _you’re_ not jealous?”

Evans, flirting with him? He must have imagined it. She didn’t flirt with anyone.

“How did you happen upon this fine specimen of a feline, miss?” he said in an affected tone, shoving his hands in his front pockets and arching his back as he stepped closer.

“Oh, Felix is an old friend of mine. I visit him each time I come.”

“I see. I see.”

“I found him in this very alley on our first Hogsmeade weekend last year. He seems to remember me.”

She reached down to stroke the cat, who preened under her attention. “I couldn’t decide what to do at first. Ultimately, I figured the best thing for him was some company, and maybe a bit of food. He seemed in need of a friend.”

“Perhaps you should ask McGonagall to befriend him.”

“Can you imagine what she’d say?” Lily tilted her face upward, thinned her lips, and peered down her nose, as if she were wearing spectacles. “ _Why Miss Evans,_ ” she said in a decent impression of the old witch, “ _would you care to explain what I have in common with an alley cat?_ ”

Sirius laughed. “That’s pretty good, Evans.”

He sat down on a wooden crate across the alley from her.

“He was so scared at first. I got down on the ground next to him, you know, so as not to spook him. I could see he was a bit desperate for food. I don’t imagine he has any galleons to spend at Honeydukes, like cats from old wizarding families do.”

Abruptly, Lily seemed to realize her gaff. She coloured and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sirius said. “I’m not offended. I don’t think my family considers me part of their old wizarding family anymore.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Again, don’t be.”

Neither said anything for a moment; Sirius could hear the cat purr.

“Where I grew up, there were always stray cats. Some of the families in Spinner’s End were…not so well off. When things got lean, the cats would be the first to lose their supper. I tried to feed them—all of them—much to my mother’s dismay.”

Lily met Sirius’s eye. “I just feel like if you can do something, you should. And there’s always something you can do.”

 

o0o0o

 

Sirius careened into the boys’ dorm, pushing the door open so hard, it slammed against the wall, the shock causing a broom propped up in the corner of the room to topple. James looked up from the textbook in his hand.

“About earlier today—,“ James began.

“Don’t worry about it, mate. Listen, I have an idea.” Sirius threw himself down on James’ four-poster and smiled. “I think we should become Animagi.”

 


End file.
